__________________The opposite of political correctness is not unvarnished truth-telling. It is political expression that is careless toward the beliefs and attitudes different than one’s own. In its more extreme fashion, it is incivility, indecency or vulgarity. These are the true alternatives to political correctness. l

From the WSJ. Posting it because some don't have a subscription. Sharing is caring.

I gotta say, at least they are agressive about the time table. When they say mega tall, they make it happen.

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Quote:

DUBAI—Dubai’s flagship developer Emaar Properties on Sunday unveiled plans to construct the world’s tallest tower in the Middle Eastern emirate, set to rise slightly above the Burj Khalifa that currently holds the title.

The announcement by Emaar underlines Dubai’s ambition to establish itself as a global investment and tourism hub by often pursuing futuristic megaprojects such as artificial islands off its coast or an indoor ski slope.

Emaar aims to deliver the tower, which won't be for residential use but contain an observation deck and possibly a small hotel, before Dubai hosts the World Expo fair in 2020. It will be situated in a yet-to-be built 6-square-kilometer residential and retail district next to Dubai’s creek and adjacent to a wildlife sanctuary.

“It [the height] will probably be announced when we open the tower but it will be a notch taller than the Burj Khalifa,” said Mohamed Alabbar, chairman of Emaar, at a preview event. The Burj Khalifa, also built by Emaar, currently tops out at 828 meters.

The building named as “The Tower” has been designed by Santiago Calatrava Valls, a Spanish-Swiss architect who also worked on the railway station at the rebuilt World Trade Center site in New York. The tower’s design is inspired by a lily and a minaret, the spire-like structure next to a mosque usually used for the Muslim call for prayer, according to Emaar.

With the new project, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia appear to be in a race toward building the world’s tallest tower. Jeddah Economic Co. expects to open the world’s future tallest skyscraper, which will comprise condominiums, office space and hotel rooms, by 2019.

Emaar’s plans for the new tower also come at a time when over the past year Dubai’s property market has lost some of its luster, after strongly rebounding from a devastating real estate crash that hit the region with the global financial crisis in 2009.

“Cycles happen in all economies, in all cities world-wide,” said Mr. Alabbar.

The Burj Khalifa, following completion in 2010, spurred development in downtown Dubai, a neighborhood that is now prime real estate. The Burj itself has become a tourist attraction and the city’s most marketable landmark.

If only they had gone for a better design, which seems an afterthought here. But I suppose it's to be compared to other towers, and not skyscrapers like the Burj.
Remove the "dress", and I might like it better.

super tall, but no interaction whatsoever with the urban fabric. Another wind-swept (sun-fried?) plaza, that will one day, once the novelty wears off, could cease to draw much pedestrian traffic.

Personally I prefer when the skyscraper is right smack in the thick of it. Like the Empire State Building.

The extreme thinness of the building has me doubting about its financial merits.

__________________The opposite of political correctness is not unvarnished truth-telling. It is political expression that is careless toward the beliefs and attitudes different than one’s own. In its more extreme fashion, it is incivility, indecency or vulgarity. These are the true alternatives to political correctness. l

Personally I prefer when the skyscraper is right smack in the thick of it. Like the Empire State Building.

I agree. I would rather see this in a city like Tokyo or Shenzhen where there is already a dense jungle of urbanity surrounding it. But it is what it is. Maybe overtime as the area fills up, opinions could change, but can this all be sustained given the turbulent nature of that region as a whole. But at least its not the Kingdom Tower. At least Dubai has towers that can kinda give it a cool urban effect.

The 5th rendering in that rendering set that NYGuy posted: If they made the whole tower like that, in a way that kinda resembles a Dubai twist on the Ping Centre (Shenzhen), than we would have something interesting. There's no question that the Burj Dubai is an amazing feat of engineering and architecture, but this design just seems odd. I'd almost IMO think that its to out there even for Dubai. A Kingdom style tower would make sense as a centerpiece, but this seems like a ego stick really. Doesn't look right even with the master plan renderings.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mhays

Sun-fried is right. Who'd want to stand in a plaza in 100F weather?

I would. But only if I had a Rolls Royce, was a project manager, and lived in Dubai. I sure as hell wouldn't want to be a worker who is building this though....

More power to them. OSHA would flip given some of the working conditions we've heard about in Dubai. American workers have the good life.

What a colossal waste of money. Will likely sit largely empty just like Burj was. Would that these sheikhs considered pitching in with the huge effort to settle desperate migrants or battle Daesh, but no, better to throw money at these monuments to ego and indulgence.

What a colossal waste of money. Will likely sit largely empty just like Burj was. Would that these sheikhs considered pitching in with the huge effort to settle desperate migrants or battle Daesh, but no, better to throw money at these monuments to ego and indulgence.

The migrants are only there so they can do things like build these giant buildings. If they didn't throw their money at these projects they would just kick them all out.

I am not a fan, at all, of the oulandish urbanism of Dubai for the rich, it is just not my kind of city. Looking at the renderings, I don't like a bit of all the urbanism surrounding this tower, made of sterile buildings atop parking podiums. Also, even if generally I like Calatrava works, from a aesthetic perspective, I also find that many times it is overdesigned.

All that said, I don't get all the hate this tower is having.

That it is to thin? it is an observation tower, it does not have to be thick.

A sun fried plaza? this thing is supposed to be a tourist attraction, that plaza should be full of people.

That looks to "fragile" and the critics to the cables? I actually think that those cables looks very good, they are a structural neccessity, but made architectural, the way he used the staying cables is what makes this tower unique and iconic. From a distance, they look pretty good and prety elegant. When you are inside the "sun fried plaza", bellow all those cables, looking up at that net above you with the sky, the thing must be breathtaking.

No interaction with the urban fabric? oh, come on! the urban fabric surrounding this tower is just awful, there is nothing to interact with, that urban fabric doesn't even have interaction with itself. The only thing worth to be seen there would be this tower.